


An Ivory Tower

by cherry_shot



Category: Secret History - Donna Tartt
Genre: Awkard Richard, First Time, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-26
Updated: 2016-06-26
Packaged: 2018-07-18 06:47:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7303843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherry_shot/pseuds/cherry_shot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post Henry Saving Richard in that horrible, horrible winter. Richard has been staying with Hnery for almost two weeks, and begins to feel anxious. He thinks Henry would be better off without him there, Henry heavily disagrees.</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Ivory Tower

**Author's Note:**

> Why does no one write for my sons??

I had stayed a total of to nine days in Henry's house before I began to feel anxious and bothersome. Which was unnatural for me, considering I often couldn't even spend an entire dinner in someone's home before I began to feel intrusive. Perhaps it was because Henry was so often gone from the house, creating the illusion that I was in my own home. Or perhaps it was because Henry simply didn't seem to mind my presence, despite the fact that I was still partially ill.

My recovery had been insufficient due to the fact that my lungs had all but given up on themselves. I'd been constantly sick during the winter as a child, always the one to catch a cold or a cough, and that mixed with the extreme conditions of the Vermont winter had left me in the purgatory between health and illness. It had left my lungs weak, making it hard to pull in a deep breath when seated much less when I was up and about, and had left my immune system practically useless. 

The doctors had given me about a pound of pills when I was finally allowed to leave the hospital, they seemed for more concerned than I was, and had advised me to stay on bed rest for at least two weeks. But I wasn't planning on telling Henry, or anyone this, I didn't want to burden them. And so, on day nine of my stay, I figured it was time for me to end it. 

The dorms had already been open for about a week, and although they were bound to still be bare and void of any life, that Friday I began packing to make my way back towards them. I couldn't bring myself to ask to borrow Henry's car, and so I slightly thanked myself for being able to fit all my belongings into two small suitcases. It was about five mile walk from Henry's apartment to the college, and I was barely able to carry my two bags much less anymore. 

And so that evening, at a quarter to seven, I placed my bags by the door and pulled on my over coat its size dwarfing my shoulders which had thinned out over winter break. Henry was still gone, he had been since the morning, and so I quickly moved into the kitchen to scribble out a note explaining where I had gone for when he returned. It was while I was doing this when I heard the front door swing open, bringing with it a icy wind which sliced through my worn down coat and the familiar sound of Henry clearing the show from his polished shoes and cursing quietly as he tried to push the door closed. 

"Hello Richard," he said and I turned to return the greeting, only to find Henry scowling over at my suitcases which still sat by the door and then up towards me. "Are you going somewhere?" He asked, unwinding the thick scarf from his neck as he moved to join my in the kitchen, dropping the papers he held onto the table. 

"Oh uh... yes," I said, casting my gaze away from his own, "I was just going to bring my things back to the dorms. They opened a few days ago." 

Henry looked at me blankly, before gesturing to the front window saying, "It's practically dark out, are you sure now is the best time?"

"It is?" I asked, mostly to myself as I moved to glance out the window for myself. Sure enough, it was pitch black outside with only the faint yellow glow of the street lamps to give visibility to the snow covered streets and pines that covered the ground. "Well," I began, feeling slightly like an idiot standing there under Henry's questioning gaze, "I'm already packed..." 

"Well then we better be going," Henry said, shrugging at my faulty explanation before grabbing his scarf and moving back towards the door, "I'll drive you there and then-" 

"Oh no," I said, cutting him off abruptly before moving to grab one of my suitcases, my other hand positioned of the door knob. At this, Henry turned towards me and I continued, "I couldn't ask you to, you just got back." 

"Richard its ten degrees outside-" 

"Its quite alright," I said, cutting him off again before pulling open the front door and turning towards the outside snowy vortex. The air slapped me in the face, the sharp iciness knocking my breath away for a moment before I regained my senses. Stepping forward, my other bag completely forgotten, by the time both of my feet were outside the icy wind and snow had already mostly soaked my thin coat. 

"Richard," I turned around to see Henry standing in the doorway, the light from inside the house shinning around him like some sort of halo, "get in the house. You'll kill yourself walking out there." 

"I'm fine." I responded, turning around to take another step into this frozen hell but was stopped when a strong hand grabbed my wrist, holding me in place. Turning around, I saw Henry standing halfway outside, his gaze set hard as he gripped my wrist tighter. 

"Richard." 

When he repeated my name again I turned away from him, pulling my arm away from him while saying, "Henry, I'm fine!" But as I turned away from him my foot stepped onto a piece of ice on the snow covered floor and I found myself falling quickly towards the floor. However, as I fell towards the floor, I felt Henry's grip find itself on my arm again, this time pulling me back towards him and the apartment. 

The next thing I knew we were both laying in the doorway, the snow filled air till blowing through the open door, and I opened my eyes in confusion when I landed not on the hard wood floor but something warm. When I opened my eyes I yelled out in shock and quickly realized I had fallen on Henry, who simply looked up at me with a bemused expression. Flustered and stumbling over my words, I apologized profusely while trying to move off of him. However, to my surprise, I was unable too when Henry grasped my upper arm, holding me still while being practically sprawled on top of him. 

"Henry I really should get-"

"Why are you risking your life to leave my home?" Henry inquired, his expression blank as ever but I could see glints of confusion beneath his solid eyes, "Am I really such terrible company?" 

"No! Certainly not!" I spluttered out, desperate to relieve him of any guilt. God, I had been trying to avoid this by leaving and now I've made the mess even worse, I thought, slightly cursing myself for my stupidity. Henry had been nothing but gracious, and I'd made him think he was the cause of my leaving. 

As we lay there, still halfway between the heat of Henry's apartment and the icy chill of the night, I could still feel the cold air continued to blow in from outside, covering the dark wood of Henry's foyer with a light white powder. It bite at my face, I could already feel by checks and nose flushing from it, and the powder as surely finding itself into my messy, dark hair, leaving it speckled with white. 

I could only imagine how ridiculous I looked. 

And it was only the warmth radiating off of Henry's chest that kept me from shivering.

"Then why?" Henry asked, further questioning me. His gaze seemed to grow stronger by the minute and I felt myself get smaller and smaller as he continued looking up at me, waiting for my response. 

Glancing away from him, I muttered out, "I've already overstayed my welcome, it's not fair for me to stay here disrupting your life." At this Henry sat up and I moved off of him, but stayed seated next to him as he furrowed his brows and sighed. 

"I wouldn't have invited you here if I wasn't able to coexist with you," Henry explained, running a hand through his slightly disheveled yet still slicked back hair. 

Looking back towards him, I blinked hard attempting to rid my eyes of the sting of the cold air, before saying, "What reason would you have for even allowing me here?" At this question he grew silent, and I waited for an answer as a tense silence quickly filled the space between us. When he didn't respond, I continued, "Bunny told me you hate having house guests," by now I was basically yelling, my voice almost cracking under the weight of my words, "you don't need to feel bad for me Henry I'm capable of-" 

Henry suddenly turned towards me, grabbing the front of my wrinkled shirt to pull me towards him before pressing his lips against mine. His lips were warm against my own, which felt frigid, and I could feel the heat of his palm on my chest. For a moment I sat motionless, but as my thawing brain caught up with what was happening I felt my hand press up against his chest as I turned my head to press deeper into the kiss. 

After a moment, Henry's hand slide to grasp at the back of my neck as slide his tongue into my mouth with one fluid motion. I'd kissed a few girls during my stay in Vermont, and even one guy when I had been alone at a late night party with no judging eyes around me, but Henry's kiss was unlike any one. He was strong and forceful, but held a sort of thin veil of caution over himself and his actions, always leaving the option to cease out in the open. His mouth tasted like the aftertaste of whiskey and mint and this close I could smell his earthy cologne, which I'd seen him dap behind each ear every morning. 

We sat there for what felt like years, kissing until my hands went numb and even Henry's warmth seemed to be gradually decreasing due to the outside air. 

"You might want to close the door," I breathed out once he pulled away. Standing up, Henry brushed off the front of his shirt before moving to push the door closed, finally separating us from the chill out the night. 

"I assume you'll be staying the night?" He asked, holding his hand down towards me. I grabbed onto it and hoisted myself up as well, swaying for a moment as I stood on my partially numb legs before steadying myself. 

"Yes." 

\--/--  
Henry's bed was king sized and wonderful. It smelled like laundry soap mixed with a drop of dark ink, and was full of fresh cotton sheets and more pillows than two people could ever need. Perhaps it was my ever growing exhaustion, or those soft sheets, or Henry's evenly paced breathy. But that night I slept better than I had my entire stay in Vermont


End file.
